Patentable/Patents/US-9735017
US-9735017

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device

PublishedAugust 15, 2017
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A false report on appearance inspection of a semiconductor device is prevented by suppressing variation in surface state of an electrodeposited gold electrode. In formation of an electrodeposited gold electrode, an electrodeposited gold electrode comprised of a plurality of electrodeposited gold layers in the stack is formed by alternately repeating a step of performing energization between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode provided in a treatment cup of a plating apparatus to cause crystal growth of an electrodeposited gold layer (energization ON), and a step of performing no energization between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode (energization OFF). Consequently, even if aging variation occurs in composition of the plating solution, variation in surface state of the electrodeposited gold electrode is suppressed, and a surface state with a surface roughness of, for example, about 0.025 rad can be maintained.

Patent Claims
13 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the step of: (a) forming an electrodeposited electrode over a main surface of a semiconductor wafer provided in a plating solution bath with an anode electrode in a treatment cup, wherein (a) includes the steps of: (a1) performing energization where current continuously flows for at least 20 sec. between the anode electrode and the semiconductor wafer to cause crystal growth of an electrodeposited gold layer over the main surface of the semiconductor wafer, and (a2) performing non-energization where the current does not flow for at least 2 sec. between the anode electrode and the semiconductor wafer, and wherein the step (a1) and the step (a2) are alternately repeated a plurality of times, and the electrodeposited electrode is formed by repeating the step (a1) directly followed by the step (a2) to form a stack of electrodeposited gold layers which comprise the electrodeposited electrode, and wherein each of the electrodeposited gold layers is 0.5 μm thick.

2

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a non-energization time in the step (a2) is 2 to 15 sec.

3

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a non-energization time in the step (a2) is 3 to 11 sec.

4

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a non-energization time in the step (a2) is 5 to 7 sec.

5

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an energization time in the step (a1) is longer than a non-energization time in the step (a2).

6

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an energization time in the step (a1) is 20 to 60 sec.

7

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrodeposited electrode includes one of gold, copper, and nickel as a main component.

8

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: before the step (a), (b) forming a pad electrode over the main surface of the semiconductor wafer; (c) after the step (b), forming an insulating film over the main surface of the semiconductor wafer so as to cover the pad electrode; (d) after the step (c), forming an opening in the insulating film to expose a top of the pad electrode, and (e) after the step (d), forming a seed film over the main surface of the semiconductor wafer, wherein the electrodeposited electrode is formed over the seed film.

9

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the pad electrode comprises an aluminum film, and the seed film comprises a stacked film including a titanium film and a palladium film formed in order.

10

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plating solution is stirred by a stirrer in the step (a1), and wherein a direction of stirring by the stirrer is reversed when repeating the step (a1).

11

11. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: (a) forming an electrodeposited gold electrode over a main surface of a semiconductor wafer provided in a gold sulfite plating solution bath with a non-gold anode electrode in a treatment cup, wherein (a) includes the steps of: (a1) performing energization where current continuously flows for at least 20 sec. between the anode electrode and the semiconductor wafer to cause crystal growth of an electrodeposited gold layer over the main surface of the semiconductor wafer, and (a2) performing non-energization where the current does not flow for at least 2 sec. between the anode electrode and the semiconductor wafer, and wherein the step (a1) and the step (a2) are alternately repeated, and the electrodeposited electrode is formed by repeating the step (a1) directly followed by the step (a2) to form a stack of electrodeposited gold layers which comprise the electrodeposited electrode, wherein each of the electrodeposited layers is 0.5 μm thick, and the electrodeposited electrode is 3 μm thick, and wherein a direction of stirring the gold sulfite plating solution bath is alternately reversed when repeating the step (a1).

12

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrodeposited electrode has a surface roughness of 0.025 rad or more.

13

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the electrodeposited electrode has a surface roughness of 0.025 rad or more.

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Patent Metadata

Filing Date

January 15, 2015

Publication Date

August 15, 2017

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